Quick Draw Artist Thaw Malin

Thaw Malin seems an easy-going man, cerebral and soft spoken. His paintings, Impressionist scenes done in oils, convey scenes of serenity, landscapes, nature, roadside details. He is a plein air painter, who sets up his easel and spends hours completing a work at the site.

But Mr. Malin is unique in that he completes a painting a day, with few exceptions. Up in the morning, grabs paints and easel, and goes to work at whatever place he finds inspiration.

“Daily painting has forced me to work fast and intuitively in a direct interpretation of subject,” he explains on his website. “I no longer do a beginning pencil drawing except with a brush. I have honed my paints down to nine colors plus white. I love working on 6 by 8-inch toned, canvas panels.

He has joined a growing group of artists who auction their work on the Internet. His paintings are digitally photographed, uploaded to his website — thawmalinart.com — and posted for sale on eBay with a beginning price of $100.

Viewers to his website will see his latest work, usually with some informal comment from him such as the one he notes while painting the gate at Fiddlehead Farm: “My timing was right today, and only a few friends honked at me as they whizzed by. And oh, yes, a car did stop and a news photographer caught me in her lens while her husband disarmed me with small talk. Paint drying is big news on a Sunday night.”

He received a Masters of Fine Art in painting in 1974 from the University of Georgia, and moved to Martha’s Vineyard where he painted until moving to Texas in 2005. Mr. Malin returns to the Island to spend his summers painting, and where — if you look quickly — you might find him making his daily work of art.